Sat. Feb. 12, Senior Ball took place at the Spanish Hills Country Club in Camarillo. ASB adviser Madeleine Wilkowske and the senior ASB class first needed to figure out how they could have a dance with so many people and still work with COVID restrictions.

“This was going to be an outdoor dance so that we could comply with the rules to keep everybody safe,” Wilkowske said. “Given that senior ball is always at an outside venue, we obviously didn’t want to do it at Buena, it felt more special for the seniors.”

During third period, ASB’s senior class got together and worked on the plans for the event which included choosing a theme, going on amazon to find decorations, getting the invitations, ticket sales, hor d’oeuvres tables and calling Amigos party rentals. 

“The senior class committee, which is composed of the senior class president, vice president, secretary, and treasurer, are the ones who sort of spearhead the planning of senior events,” Wilkowske said.

On the flyers posted outside the ASB store and on the morning announcements, students were notified that there would be no refunds to this event as this is an ASB policy and not a venue policy.

“The only thing that we really issue refunds for is AP testing, or [if] you accidentally bought two yearbooks,” Wilkowske said. “For dances because we count on the ticket sales to be able to pay for all of the expenses that go into the dance, that is why we do not do refunds.”

ASB does also get their money from prior fundraisers or money that is already in the ASB account. Using some of that money to pay for some of the bigger expenses like booking the venue.

“Once we start getting ticket sales going, we use the money from the ticket purchases to pay for [the] DJ, food, or decorations,” Wilkowske said.

Senior Iliana Loza attended Senior Ball Sat. night and liked the floral decorations on the table, the free soda, the white blow-up photo booth in the corner, however she felt it was weird that it only printed out one picture and the zig-zagged stringed lights. Moreover, Loza did not feel that the students were “as enthusiastic” and noticed that not many students were dancing.

“The people around me were trying to have a good time. I would say [that is what made it fun],” Loza said.

All in all Wilkowske believes Senior Ball is a time for students to “feel elegant” and have a “fun night” because of the time that we spent apart as a school due to COVID. A final formal dance is what she felt the student body needed.